SAN DIEGO STATE MEN'S BASKETBALL: Aztecs look to meet high hopes

Fisher's crew hit practice floor for 2010-11 season

SAN DIEGO -- Expect the Viejas Arena student section to make
even more noise this season at San Diego State men's basketball
games. That's because the Aztecs are expected to make more noise
than ever on the court.

With all five starters returning from a team that won 25 games
and a conference tournament and made an appearance in the NCAA
tournament last season, San Diego State is the team to beat in the
Mountain West Conference.

Practice for the Aztecs begane Thursday, two days after they
were selected as the choice to win the MWC in the conference
preseason media poll. The 21 first-place votes (out of 30 cast) and
the 261 total points were both the most for San Diego State in the
12-year history of the conference.

The only other schools to receive first-place nods were Brigham
Young, New Mexico and Nevada-Las Vegas. There is more than one way
to look at the high preseason expectations on Montezuma Mesa.

"I think it's a positive thing," said sophomore forward Kawhi
Leonard, who returns after earning MWC freshman of the year and MWC
tournament MVP honors last season. "Everybody on the team knows we
can be the best in the conference. We're working hard and putting
in the hours to be the best."

"It puts a big target on our back," senior guard D.J. Gay said
of being the preseason No. 1 in the MWC. "It forces us to play even
harder."

Even head coach Steve Fisher couldn't help but show his pleasure
at his team's being considered as a top-25 team in the country.

"We haven't played a game yet, but I do like our team," said
Fisher, beginning his 12th season at the helm of the Aztecs men.
"And I like the fact that other people like our team and expect us
to be good."

It's a far cry from when Fisher appeared on the scene 11 years
ago after coaching eight seasons at Michigan.

"When we did this in October of 1999, I was asked if I thought
we could win a conference game," Fisher recalled. "I said I thought
we'd win more than one game. We didn't win any."

The Aztecs have made big strides since that 0-14 Mountain West
campaign in 1999-2000 . SDSU won only five games that season but
have been in double digits in the win column ever since, including
five straight seasons of 20 wins or more since winning the MWC
regular season and tournament titles in 2005-06.

"Fisher doesn't receive enough regional or national credit for
the job he has done in San Diego," reported Lindy's Sports in its
2010-11 College Basketball Preview. "Maybe this is the year that
changes."

Leonard, a 6-foot-7 product of Martin Luther King High in
Riverside who led SDSU last season in scoring (12.7 points per
game) and rebounding (9.9 per game), feels the Aztecs will be
fueled by the burning memory of 62-59 loss to Tennessee last March
in the first round of the NCAA tournament.